What makes the use of naughty words so powerful? The power of the taboo, of course. That reality is universally recognized: Just about every language in the world contains curse words.
"It seems that as soon as you have a taboo word, and the emotional insight that the word is going to cause discomfort for other people, the rest seems to follow naturally," Byrne said.
It's not just people who swear. Even primates curse when given the chance.
"Chimpanzees in the wild tend to use their excrement as a social signal, one that's designed to keep people away," Byrne said.
Hand-raised chimps who were potty-trained learned sign language for "poo" so they could tell their handlers when they needed the toilet.
"And as soon as they learned the poo sign they began using it like we do the word sh*t," Byrne said. "Cursing is just a way of expressing your feelings that doesn't involve throwing actual sh*t. You just throw the idea of sh*t around."
Does that mean that we should curse whenever we feel like it, regardless of our environment or the feelings of others? Of course not. But at least you can cut yourself some slack the next time you inadvertently let an F-bomb slip.
After all, you're just being human.
in CNN
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